Weeks 4-7: Kitchen organization

The last few weeks have been extra challenging, because in addition to continuing to settle in from our move, tax season started (which means Peter is working a lot more), little Peter has been teething and then got sick and we were all saying our goodbyes to my oldest cat, Bernie, who had been sick for a while.

We decided to euthanize Bernie after his health started deteriorating to a point that we didn’t want him to suffer. It has been very sad for all of us (people and other cats) and also very confusing since we have been trying to navigate how to handle the situation with a less than 2 year old who doesn’t quite understand what’s going on but who loves the cat and misses him.

Bernie was a beautiful orange tabby with matching golden eyes, and the smartest cat I’ve ever known. He was the constant in my life over the last 11 years from moving apartment to apartment in college, then from Maryland to NYC and finally to our home in Westchester. I’m glad Bernie got to spend a short time in our home to see where we ended up. I could say so much about him but I think it’s more appropriate for my personal journal. We love you Bernie and you’ll always be in our hearts.

Over the last weeks I did continue to organize but I kept it simple because I didn’t have the wherewithal to tackle huge projects. I picked one small area at a time and focused on it, even if everything around it was chaos. I worked on the kitchen and organized utensils, an awkward pullout drawer next to the oven, a small drawer, and the top of the fridge. Here’s how it went:

Week 4: Junk drawer

Week 5: The top of the fridge

The top of the fridge and the small drawer in the kitchen had become dumping grounds for miscellany I found while unpacking but didn’t feel like dealing with at the moment. I never had a junk drawer in my kitchen before and I didn’t want to get in that habit. The drawer now holds kitchen towels and the top of the fridge has two baskets, one for alliums and the other for tubers.

Week 6: Utensils

My utensils had grown a bit out of hand with handed down and gifted wooden spoons. Even though I used them all I knew I could easily get by with less and not have so many to clean! I narrowed it down to:

Wooden spoon

Large and small turners

Tasting spoon

Tongs

Large and small spatulas

Large and small whisks

Ladle with strainer

At first I also kept a slotted spoon but after a couple days decided I could do without it as well.

Week 7: Pull out drawer

The last spot I tackled was a tall and very narrow pull out drawer next to the oven. I didn’t want to put any oils or spices there since they would be heated and cooled repeatedly. (Even though I think that’s what it was intended for.) I decided to use it for stainless steel water bottles and food containers. I thought it was an especially good idea since Peter loves to have the responsibility of helping out with tasks that he’s capable of doing. So whenever we’re putting dishes away he can do this cabinet himself. He’s done it a couple times now and was really proud of his accomplishment!